When students and viewers of her PBS program, Healthful Indian Flavors with Alamelu, made requests for gluten-free recipes, culinary instructor and author Alamelu Vairavan, a resident of Whitefish Bay, was prompted to write the cookbook Indian Inspired Gluten-Free Cooking with Registered Dietician Margaret Pfeiffer. Indian food lends itself naturally to gluten-free cooking because the vegetable and rice dishes are enhanced with spices and legumes that don’t include the gluten-containing grains; wheat, oat or barley.

Whereas the majority of gluten-free cookbooks focus on breads and desserts, this one introduces the richly aromatic, healthy and easy-to-make classics of Indian cuisine. The recipes inherently avoid most dairy, sugar and red meat.

Featuring more than 100 step-by-step recipes, a helpful FAQ on gluten-free foods and a guide to Indian ingredients, Indian Inspired Gluten-Free Cooking includes a nutritional analysis and full-color photo for each recipe.

Cost is $19.95, available through Amazon.com, bn.com or HippocreneBooks.com. For more information, email [email protected] or visit CurryOnWheels.com.